StH: Possession
by Vorahk295
Summary: The discovery of an ancient artefact named the Goddess' Soul leads to an altercation between Team Dark and the Destructix, but when the Soul is brought to Mobotropolis, things start to go downhill. The Soul is looking for a body, and it's willing to drive its host to insanity to get there. It's up to the Freedom Fighters and G.U.N to stop it, before it burns the world to ashes.
1. Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

**Oh hey, a new series. This one is an entirely new idea I just had. I wanted to put a different spin on some of the things I tend to write, so I'm trying it out with this story. It's going to be dark, and even a bit creepy in places.**

**There are a few changes to the universe, though:**

**Hershey isn't dead.**  
**Because Hershey isn't dead, Geoffrey never turned evil, so Naugus hasn't come back.**  
**Mina wasn't dumb enough to write "We won't be afraid".**  
**Because of the lack of Naugus and Mina's musical hate speech, Nicole is still well-liked by the people.**  
**Sally was smart enough to tell everyone that Nicole was, for the most part, undermining the Dominion, and is now immune to Magitek.**  
**Endangered Species didn't happen.**

**Aside from that, everything's normal. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

Morning, and a lone figure rushed around the meager room she slept in, packing as many things as she could into a case. She was a Mobian weasel, with purple fur and blue eyes, clad in a white crop top, black leggings, and white boots with black toecaps. She paused momentarily, as her eyes passed over a framed photo of her, with her arm around the shoulders of an auburn-furred vixen, both of them smiling. She picked the photo up, and put it in the case, before zipping it up.

_'You know, Fi? You were right. It's time I made something of myself. I'm gonna fight the good fight, just like you.'_ She thought. She pulled on a pair of fingerless gloves, as well as a stetson, and slung a rifle over her shoulder, before turning to look at herself in the mirror. _'Nic Weasel, Agent of G.U.N. has a nice ring to it.'_

She picked up the case, and headed outside, locking the door behind her as she went. She lugged it around to a fairly large hoverbike, and fixed it in place behind, before climbing on, and starting the engine, and riding off into the morning sun, heading north.

As she said, she was intending to join the Guardian Unit of Nations, having been inspired by her friend, Fiona Fox, and her actions as a Freedom Fighter, to take up the fight against the remains of Eggman's Empire. Really, it seemed to be coming apart at the seams now. Eggman had poured all of his resources into a new Death Egg, along with two weapons, the World Roboticizer, and the Genesis Wave Generator. The latter had been successful, but ultimately meaningless, since every use was reversed by Sonic and the Chaos Emeralds. The former had, despite its name, had a stunning total of one victim, Princess Sally Acorn, who had ultimately been freed from his control in short order, and was now in an ongoing effort to deroboticize her mechanical body.

Since then, his Empire had all but collapsed. His legions had all either been defeated, or turned against him once Mecha Sally's vengeful rampage had knocked out the doctor's link to the cherry bombs in their cybernetics. All he had left was the Death Egg, and the people onboard it. Not much of a threat, in Nic's mind, but still, he wasn't the only enemy Mobius faced.

She soon found herself on the outskirts of a city, and made her way towards the G.U.N recruitment office. She had applied before, and had already been accepted. Now she was returning to the office to be assigned a station. She stepped inside, and was brought through to the sergeant's office.

"Miss Weasel."  
"Sir."  
"We processed your data, and we were particularly impressed with your skill with firearms, as well as operating vehicles. It's been decided that you're going to be sent to the Guardian Unit of Nations' main headquarters for your training. We will escort you to the helicopter for the journey."  
"Thank you, sir." 

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Acornian capital, New Mobotropolis, the Freedom Fighters were assembling on the top floor of the city's research lab. The three scientists of the team, Miles "Tails" Prower, Nicole the Lynx, and Rotor Walrus, were making the final adjustments to what looked like a huge, glass cylinder. Off to the side was the form of Sally Acorn herself, still trapped in a mechanical body after Eggman had performed extensive modifications on her. Memories of the event still haunted her, both the look on the mad scientist's face, and the feeling of the blowtorch carving through her armour.

"What makes you so sure that it will work this time?" She asked, staring at her steel-plated hand.  
"Because I'm cheating." Nicole replied. "I'm using plans for a Roboticizer that shouldn't come into existence for another five years, and thus, we'll have to destroy it after use."  
"Uh, couldn't that have really bad side effects?" Sonic asked. "Time paradoxes and all that?"  
"Well, Eggman wasn't supposed to be able to reboot reality on this generation's technology. I'm bending the rules as much as he did."  
"Point taken."  
"And this one was built to work on weaponized Robians, I'm guessing?" Sally asked, receiving a nod of confirmation from Nicole.

A few minutes later, all three of them backed away from the machine, and the glass cylinder rose into the ceiling. Sally stepped towards it, and felt a hand clasp hers. She turned around, and saw Sonic smiling at her. She returned the sentiment, and pulled him into a gentle hug, careful to not injure him with her increased strength and hard outer shell.

"Good luck, Sal."  
"Thank you, Sonic."

The young couple released each other, and Sally stepped into the tube, watching it lower down over her head.

"So how exactly does this work?" She asked, as a blue light began glowing at the top of the machine.  
"Well, rather than triggering the usual explosion, non-organic metals in this roboticizer simply disintegrate. Then it uses Chaos Energy to heal the injuries left behind. This thing is running on Tails' entire supply of synthetic Emeralds. Nothing less was powerful enough." Rotor explained.  
"Now, when you're ready..." Tails prompted.  
"Go for it."

Nicole pulled the lever on the control panel, and the beam fired down into the tube. Sally's silhouette began to change shape, many of the sharp angles breaking up and giving way to softer curves. Eventually, the visible changes stopped, but the beam kept going.

"Deroboticization complete, healing in-progress." Tails read from the system.

Eventually, the beam faded, revealing the organic, but bare form of Sally, inspecting herself from as many angles as she could, which was aided by the reflective surface of the cylinder. A wide grin broke out on her face, as Nicole lifted the cylinder, and Sally found herself being immediately embraced by Sonic. The two kissed each other deeply, Sally pressing herself closer to Sonic's now-bulkier frame.

"That didn't take long." Amy sighed.  
"Ah think they've been waitin' for that since Sally-Girl got turned into a bot in the first place." Bunnie laughed.

Nicole snapped her fingers, and a cloud of nanites formed around Sally's feet and torso, shaping themselves into her standard boots and jacket. Eventually, they parted, and Sally hugged Nicole, Tails, and Rotor.

"Thank you." She said.  
"Hey, we can't take the credit." Rotor replied. "Nicole was the one with the plans, and the materials. We just followed her lead."  
"Still." Sally pressed. She released them, walked back over to Sonic, and hugged him again.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I haven't eaten in four months, and honestly, I'm famished."  
"Oui, we must get you somezing to eat." Antoine nodded. "And I do believe zat celebrations are in order, no?"  
"You said it, Ant." Sonic grinned. "Let's party!" 

* * *

Several hours later, at the G.U.N base, Nic had met with her direct superior, in this case a middle-aged woman of Yurashian descent, to be assigned to her squad and quarters.

"Nicolette Weasel, reporting for duty, ma'am." She said, standing at attention.  
"At ease." The woman replied. "For agents like yourself, we prefer to assign you a mentor, with whom you will bunk, and work with on most of your initial missions. After looking through your background, as well as your prowess in training, we decided that you will be assigned to one of our top-ranking agents."  
"Yes ma'am. When will I meet him or her?"  
"She will be arriving shortly." The officer said. "Ah, here she is now."

Nic turned around, and was immediately greeted by a sight that was both unexpected and not entirely welcome: An ivory-furred bat with turquoise eyes and a form-fitting, figure-emphasizing outfit.

"Rouge?"  
"Well well well, if it isn't my old rival Nic."


	2. Chapter 2: Cold Reunion

Chapter 2: Cold Reunion

"What brings you up here, Nic?"  
"I decided to make something of my life and join an organisation to protect Mobius." Nic replied. "And being a Freedom Fighter didn't do it for me, so I joined G.U.N. What about you?"  
"I've been an agent for years, now. I my own team. Come on, I'll take you to them."  
"Oh, okay..."

Rouge led Nic through the base, pointing out various locations that the weasel tried and failed to commit to memory, eventually arriving at a door labelled 'Team Dark'.

"'Team Dark?' Really, Rouge?" Nic chuckled.  
"It wasn't my idea." Rouge said defensively, as she entered the code into the keypad. The door slid open, and the two women stepped in. There, they came face to face with Shadow the Hedgehog and E-123 Omega. "These are Shadow and Omega."  
"Nice to meet you." Nic smiled.  
"Same to you." Shadow nodded.  
"Salutations, purple forest creature." Omega droned.  
"My name is Nic the Weasel. I'm a new recruit, and they assigned me to Rouge."  
"Scans suggest that this is undesirable. Is there a problem, Nic?"  
"Rouge and I used to be rivals when we were both in the treasure-hunting gig. She beat me to every single treasure that we both knew about."  
"You didn't do too badly for someone who could fly over all the traps." The bat shrugged. "Sorry about all that, by the way. I had to eat, and all."  
"I get you. You know, in hindsight, we probably should have worked together. Those things were worth more than enough to feed five people, let alone a couple."  
"Yeah."

"So, what do you guys actually do?"  
"Whatever is required of us to fulfill our objectives and defend Northammer from Empire attack." Shadow replied.  
"Right, I can handle that."

At that moment, a screen in the room clicked on, and the face of Commander Abraham Tower appeared on it.

"Team Dark. We have received reports that the mercenary group the Destructix have been sighted in the Shamazon. Reportedly, a temple there has been found to contain an artefact of untold power, simply called the Goddess' Soul. They cannot be allowed to recover it. Be aware that interdimensional criminal, Scourge the Hedgehog appears to be at their helm. Over and out."

"Scourge, huh?" Shadow mused, pulling out his Chaos Emerald. "Last time we fought, I underestimated him. I won't do the same again."  
"Give that creep a punt where it hurts for me, will you?" Rouge asked.  
"I might."  
"So... who's actually on this Destructix team?" Nic asked.

Anti-Sonic the Hedgehog, of the Moebius Zone. Faster and stronger than his counterpart due to an accident with the Master Emerald. Less intelligent. Lacking in sanity. Womanizer. Lightning Lynx, of Chun-Nan. Fast, but not particularly strong or tough. Skilled as a ninja. Emotionally scarred. Flying Frog, of Mercia. Able to glide long distances. Mentally deranged psychopath. Uses his tongue to fight. Sergeant Simon Simian, of Northammer. Highly-trained soldier, little regard for his own allies in crossfire. Above-average strength. Predator Hawk, of Cocoa Archipelago. Also highly-trained, but weaker. Good pilot. Uses knives. Fiona Fox, of the Acorn Republic. Turncoat Freedom Fighter. Above-average strength, but mentally fragile." Omega rumbled.

"W-wait... Fiona?" Nic gasped. "She went turncoat?"  
"'Fraid so, Nic." Rouge sighed.  
"Damn, I thought I raised her better than that. She and I are going to have a little talk when we catch up to them."  
"You act like you're her mother." Shadow noted.  
"I'm the closest thing she had to one for much of her life."  
"Ah, I see now."  
"How'd she turn evil?"  
"Scourge seduced her, and twisted her mind, but don't worry, I have a dirty secret that should tear that little lie apart."  
"You and your dirty secrets..." Nic sighed. "Let's just go and get them. We'll have to be quick if we want to stop them before they get away."  
"You really are new here, aren't you?" Rouge chuckled. "Shadow can teleport us there in a few seconds thanks to his Chaos Control."  
"It takes a few trips to get used to, but you should be able to handle it. Now gather around." 

* * *

Arrival via Chaos Control was indeed disorienting, but Nic recovered relatively quickly, and the quartet set off to find the Destructix, hacking through thick jungle. Several times, Omega had to be prevented from torching the entire forest with his flamethrower or other incendiary weapons, but eventually, the thick trees gave way to a magnificent, rocky monolith. Standing outside were four figures- Scourge, Fiona, Predator, and Simian.

"I thought you said there were six of them." Nic whispered.  
"The Destructix change lineups like the rest of us change clothes." Rouge replied. "They're either gone or inside the temple."  
"Plan?"  
"Shadow will take Scourge. Omega, you take Simian. I can deal with Predator, and I think Nic wants a shot at Fiona."  
"Affirmative."  
"On my signal..."

Omega's hand retracted, and a beam cannon extended from the socket. He aimed it at Simian, and began charging up. Shadow prepared his Chaos Emerald, and Nic primed herself to make a beeline for her former friend.

"Go!" Rouge shouted, taking to the air, and heading straight for Predator. Shadow vanished, and reappeared in front of Scourge, roundhouse-kicking him across the clearing. Omega opened fire, blasting Simian into a tree, and vaulted the length of the area to land in front of him. The hawk saw his assailant coming, and took off, heading up to meet her, only to receive a boot to the face.

"What the hell?" Fiona growled, less than a second before she was body-checked by Nic.

"You and I need to have a little chat." Nic hissed, pinning her younger friend to the ground.  
"Nic? What are you doing here? And why are you working with these losers?"  
"I decided to follow your example and make something of myself, and none of the Freedom Fighter teams seemed to fit, so I joined G.U.N. Turns out I was good enough to be partnered with Rouge. And then I find out that you've thrown away all that progress and you're working with these low-lifes?"  
"Scourge isn't a low-life!" Fiona yelled, rolling over and taking Nic with her, before standing up, dusting herself off. "And let's be honest, you haven't got a hope against me. I'm stronger and faster than you."  
"Sis please." Nic shot back, springing back to her feet and kicking Fiona in the gut as she did so. "I taught you everything you know."

Near the edge of the clearing, Omega grappled with Simian, matching him strength-for-strength.

"For an organic, you are almost strong." Omega droned, pivoting at his waist and throwing Simian back into the wall of the temple. Then he flew after him, and blasted him with his beam cannon. The ape stumbled, and jumped up, punching the robot as hard as he could manage without breaking his hand, destabilizing his flight. Omega swerved wildly, and cut power to his engines, slamming back into the dirt. Instantly, Simian was on top of him, trying to shatter the robot's optics with his fists. The crimson titan instead drove his serrated claws into the primate's side, and clubbed him over the head with his forearm. "Almost."

Above their heads, Predator lashed out with a knife, but Rouge flew under him, and grabbed his leg, before spinning her whole body around and throwing him into a tree. She dropped after him, and delivered a painful kick to his midsection, then another to his head. Dazed, he fell out of the sky, smacked into quite a few tree branches on the way down, and finally crashed into the ground, knocked unconscious by the impact. She landed behind him, and cuffed his wrists together. Then she flew over to Omega's side, and did the same with Simian, before looking around for Nic and Fiona.

The two former friends could easily have been mistaken for pretending to fight. Every punch, every kick, ever tackle was easily predicted and avoided.

"Come on, Nic!" Fiona smirked. "If you were really this good, you'd have beaten me already! I'm using your moves, after all."  
"Sorry, but it's a little hard to bring myself to hit you." Nic growled.  
"Aw, how sweet." The vixen laughed. "Why's that, wimp?"  
"Because you're the closest thing to a little sister I ever had!" She shot back. Fiona was caught off guard by this, as Nic grabbed her by the shoulder-straps of her top and pinned her to a tree. "I raised you the best I could, and while we were criminals, I made sure you turned out better than this! The Fiona I knew would never throw her life and her accomplishments away for a slimy, lecherous creep like Scourge!"

Fiona growled, and kneed Nic in the gut, then pushed her away. The weasel stumbled, as her foe lunged at her again, only to be blindsided and snagged from the air by Rouge.

"Let me go!" Fiona yelled.  
"Sorry, but unless you fancy a fairly long and probably painful drop, I'm going to have to keep hold of you."  
"Rouge, I could have got her!" Nic shouted indignantly.  
"Sorry, but the others are about to show, according to Omega's sensors, and Shadow's busy with Scourge. I'm going to nip this little argument in the bud, and we can get back to the mission at hand. You two have your family tiff later."  
"Right." She nodded. "I'm guessing this is that "dirty secret" you mentioned?"  
"Yeah." Rouge smirked. "So, Fiona, there's something that you need to know, that you deserve to know, that's been kept from you."

"Oh yeah, and what is it?" Fiona replied, glaring at her rival.  
"Scourge cheated on you. Not only that, but he cheated on you with Bunnie, he went after Sally and Mina, and he cheated on you with me. Remember when we showed up in Knothole after he turned green for the first time. He couldn't take his eyes or his hands off of me. I'm surprised you didn't notice."  
"You're lying!"  
"I'm not. What do I have to gain by lying? Pass up another chance to beat your sorry tail into the dirt? Debase myself by admitting to consorting with someone like him? Yeah, right."  
"But..."  
"Didn't you ever wonder why nobody except you thinks of him as anything other than dirt? They all saw through his lies Fiona, but you got taken in by them. You were nothing more than a pretty face, and a trophy to hold above the heads of Sonic and Tails. And let's be honest, you knew all along. You just didn't want to admit to it."


	3. Chapter 3: Choices

Fiona glared back up at Rouge, tears beginning to fill her eyes.

"Y-you..."  
"You can't even form a rebuttal." Rouge sighed, floating back to the ground, and releasing the vixen. "But if you don't believe me, ask him yourself."  
"Believe me, I will..."  
"Well, when Shadow stops beating him up." Nic added, putting her hand on Fiona's shoulder.

* * *

Sure enough, Scourge was currently being kicked around between treetops by Shadow. The dark hedgehog had surprised him with his initial attack, and before he had as much as an idea of what was happening to him, a fist connected with his ribcage with a sickening crunch, presumably the sound of a few ribs cracking, as the air was knocked out of him, and he was sent hurtling in another direction. He managed to open his eyes, and saw that he was in fact going up. Spinning himself, he managed to gain some semblance of form, and flared up Anarchy energy around his hands.

The sound of teleportation echoed somewhere nearby, and he had just enough time to register the sight of Shadow's foot swinging into his vision, before it collided with his face, shattering his sunglasses, and launching him away yet again. He tore the ruined shades from his face, and prepared himself for a long drop to the ground. The drop never came, though. Another strike landed in his side, and he was sent corkscrewing back through the air. Finally, Shadow's elbow dug into his gut, and he plummeted back into the ground, forming a sizable crater around himself.

"Pathetic." Shadow spat, kicking the other hedgehog in the side. "How did I ever lose to you?"  
Scourge spat a clump of dirt out, growling. "I'm wondering where you got so strong, Stripes."  
"My name is Shadow. You would do well to remember it. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm no Freedom Fighter. Nothing's stopping me from killing you right here."

"Stop!" A new voice echoed, and both hedgehogs looked over to see Fiona making her way over to them. There were wet streaks on her muzzle, but aside from that, she didn't look too badly affected by the fight.  
"No offence, FI, but I don't think he's gonna have much trouble pulping you as well."  
"I'm not here to save you, Scourge. Not necessarily. I need answers first. Mind if I cut in, Shadow?"  
"Make it quick."  
"Thanks."  
"So, what do you want to ask me, while I'm sitting here bleeding internally! Could use some help with this, you know."  
"Did you cheat on me?"

"W-what? Where'd you g-get that idea?" Scourge replied, his eyes widening, and a nervous smile appearing on his lips.  
"I know that look. You're lying! You told me that I was the only one! You told me that you'd stopped doing that! You convinced me to leave my home, my friends, my boyfriend, everything, so that that I could be with you! I gave up everything for you..." The vixen looked away, beginning to cry again, as Nic approached her, and pulled her into a gentle hug. The brunette's ears folded back, and she pulled herself close to her friend. "And it was all a lie."

Rouge gave Scourge a smirk, dripping with delight at the hedgehog's downfall, while Nic glared hatefully, and spat on him.

"Finish him, off, Shadow." She said.  
"No, wait..." Fiona cut in.  
"You've got to be kidding me..." Rouge said.  
"Let me finish. Don't kill him. Lock him up. Forever. No chance to get out. You can legally do that, he has no birth certificate in this world. Legally, he doesn't exist. He doesn't have any rights. Make him _suffer._"  
"Now you're talking, sis."

Shadow smirked, and hoisted Scourge into the air, then fired a Chaos Spear into his chest, blasting him into a tree, which he slid down, unconscious.

"Right, the others are in the temple. They should be out soon. With any luck, I can get them to come quietly."  
"That was an abrupt change." Rouge mused.  
"Everything I thought I knew for the past five years has been a lie, and I've ruined my own life because of it. If I ever want to be someone again, I have to face up to what I've done. So I'm nipping everything he was up to in the bud, and tying the loose ends before I accept what's coming to me."  
"Fair enough."

Fiona left the four agents, and headed over to the temple entrance, leaning against the doorway. Nic followed after her, and eventually, Team Dark joined them. It didn't take long for Lightning Lynx to appear, followed closely by Flying Frog, who had an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Lightning was carrying a grey stone jar, marked with a few green crystals.

"What happened?" He asked, backing away from the new arrivals.  
"Change of plan, Lightning. Turns out Scourge was an unfaithful asshole who was just using me as some kind of ace over Sonic and Tails. So he's going to spend the rest of his life in a cell. I'm disbanding the team too, and the jar's going to go somewhere else for safekeeping. I'd advise doing as these people say, and coming quietly. I'll explain properly on the way."

* * *

Warping back to base was easy enough, though Frog ended up being cuffed almost immediately, due to his lack of coherence. Fiona, with help from Nic, explained the whole story to the lynx., who sighed sadly afterwards.

"Something the matter?" Nic asked.  
"Sorry, it's just that it reminds me of myself and Conquering Storm. She didn't cheat, but she sure as hell did use me, and threw me aside once I wasn't useful anymore."  
"What a bitch." The weasel said. "You don't need anyone like that."  
"Thank you."  
"So what do we do with this thing?" Rouge asked, holding the jar that contained the Goddess' Soul.  
"Well, first off, those crystals are just glass." Fiona said, immediately causing the bat's face to fall a little. "And second, if I recall correctly, Tails' uncle is a wizard. I'll take it with me when I turn myself in, and make sure it ends up in the right hands."  
"I'll come with you." Nic added, hugging the vixen again.  
"That sounds like a decent plan." Shadow nodded.

It was then that Omega walked back into the room, and approached Fiona.

"Fiona, you are required in the medical chamber. Your test results came back anomalous." He droned.  
"Anomalous?"  
"Follow me." The robot replied, before leaving. Fiona looked at Nic, who shrugged, and the two friends headed after the robot.

* * *

The doctor on-duty at this point was a Mobian bison, who was puzzling over the chart in his hand.

"What's the problem?" Fiona asked, as she was brought in.  
"There's a discrepancy." The doctor replied. "You said you were born in May, 3221, correct?"  
"Yes, on the 26th."  
"Well, your results say you can't be older than sixteen."  
"That's crazy! I'm twenty-one!"  
"Mentally, maybe. But biologically, you haven't aged a day since that point."  
"How can that be?" Nic asked, as Fiona looked down at her body, then up at her friend, noting that she was indeed smaller than she should have been.

"I might be able to answer that." Came the voice of Shadow. The duo turned around, as the hedgehog walked into the room, followed by Rouge. "Since I wanted to gain a proper understanding of what I can actually do with my powers, and what affect they will have on me, I ended up talking extensively with Tails about the subject. He had a lot of theories as to what energy from other worlds could do to people, and he usually used you or Scourge as examples. Increased strength and altered colouration has been displayed by both of you, for example, and he blames your exposure to foreign energy for it. One of the symptoms he suggested to be possible was that the body stops aging, and that seems to be the case. Scourge was shorter than I remember Sonic being as well."

"How bad can it be?" She asked.  
"We don't know. According to him, it could be anything from nothing but your colours altering, to as much as massive hemorrhaging or even death. Luckily, it doesn't seem to have gone that far with you."  
"Right... will I recover, or is my body like this forever?"  
"I don't know. You'll have to ask him when you arrive there."  
"Yeah." 

* * *

An hour later, Fiona opened up her Warp Ring, and walked towards it with Nic. She carried the jar under her arm, and stepped through the portal, into her old home, Knothole village.

Or rather, what was left of it. The entire area was empty now, save for the mound which Freedom HQ had been dug into. The once-huge trees that had hidden the village were now gone, with little more than a multitude of saplings in their place. The grass looked a lot fresher and newer than it had before, and here and there, the shape of a hut's foundations could be seen.

"Holy crap..." Fiona muttered. "What happened here?"  
"You must've been on Moebius or something at the time, but Eggman nuked the whole place."  
"Oh... oh my gods..."

* * *

Inside Freedom HQ, the Freedom Fighters were still in the midst of their party. Most of them were laughing at the fact that, for someone famed for his agility and quick feet, Sonic was an absolutely _terrible_ dancer, and it was only a combination of luck and her own nimble movements that Sally had avoided many a crushed toe.

"I think I've got it this time!" The blue blur announced.  
"Sonic, please, stop trying before you embarrass yourself." Tails chuckled. "Well, any more than you already have."  
"No way, Tails. Sonic the Hedgehog never gives up!"  
"Seriously, Sugah-Hog. Even Ah can do better than that. And Ah'm a little... clunky." Bunnie added.  
"Silence, non-believer! I will master this, or my name isn't Sonic the Hedgehog!"  
"Sweetie, isn't your name-" Sally began.  
"We do not talk about that. I had it legally changed. My name is Sonic. Period."

"Um..." Nicole cut in. "Not to spoil everything, but I just detected Warp Ring activity directly outside. And it isn't Knuckles."  
"Darn." Amy sighed. "Guess we'd better put proceedings on hold."  
"No, you keep having fun. We'll go and see what the situation is." Sally said, leading Sonic away. "The dancefloor is safe to use now."

The young couple linked arms, and headed out of the door, walking towards the interlopers. Needless to say, they weren't expecting to see Nic comforting a rather nervous-looking Fiona.

"What are you two doing here?" Sally demanded, glaring at them, particularly Fiona.

"I work for G.U.N. now." Nic glared back protectively, but Fiona put the urn on the ground, and stepped around her friend.

"Things have changed with me." She said quietly, little more than a whisper. "I found out what everyone else already knew... Scourge was cheating on me, and using me, and my whole life for the past five years has been a lie. So I decided to try and make things better, to atone for my fuckups, and start over. So... I'm here to turn myself in, on one condition: No prison. Claustrophobia and all."

The hedgehog and squirrel looked at each other, and shrugged.  
"Yeah, okay." Sonic nodded.  
"What's in the jar?"  
"It contains a powerful... thing... called the Goddess' Soul. We decided to make sure it ended up in the right hands, after Finitevus hired the Destructix to get it, and I thought Tails' uncle could do it."  
"We'll make sure it gets to him, once we ascertain that it's safe." Sally said.  
"What happened to the other Destructix?"  
"Shadow beat up Scourge, Rouge took out Predator, that robot guy defeated Simian, and I convinced Lightning and Frog to come quietly. Frog's in a padded cell, but Lightning seems to be trying to decide what to do with himself."

"I see. Well, we should probably inform the others that you're back, and repentant and all." Sonic said.  
"Yeah." Fiona nodded. "Can Nic come too?"  
"I guess." Sally shrugged.  
"We were having a party to celebrate deroboticizing Sally, so they might not be pleased at the interruption."  
"They weren't going to b- wait, what? You got turned into a bot?"  
"It was that or let half of Mobius get it." Sally sighed. "In hindsight, I was too rash, too desperate to fix it, and I could probably have done better by listening to Nicole, and I paid the price. The sick bastard weaponized me, while I was conscious, and Nicole had to cheat and use a machine that shouldn't exist yet to change me back."  
"That's horrible."

Carrying the jar meant that Fiona's hands were full, something that, in hindsight, she didn't really want when entering a room full of the Freedom Fighters that she betrayed. Unsurprisingly, she immediately found herself diving to avoid a strike from Amy, dropping the urn by mistake. She scrabbled to get to her feet, and looked over her shoulder to see that Nic was pressing down on the hammerhead with her foot, stopping Amy from lifting it.

"Leave my sister alone." Nic growled.  
"Ames, relax." Sonic said. "She's had a change of heart, and she's here to turn herself in."  
"And I don't need my skull cracked open added to my list of problems." Fiona sighed, looking around for the urn.

"Here." Said a gentle, smooth, calm voice asked her. She looked up to see the urn, being held out to her by a tall, golden-furred fox, with burning blue eyes, broad shoulders, thick fur on his chest and head, and, most notably, two tails.

"T-Tails?"  
"Yeah?"  
"You're looking... er... different."  
"Thanks." He smiled, showing his sharp, white teeth, as he handed the urn back to Fiona.  
"Th-thank you..."  
"You're welcome." Tails said, before walking back to his couch. She watched him go, silently cursing her hormones as she did so. 

* * *

That evening, the urn was placed in a vault, ready for Merlin Prower's arrival to pick it up. Nic had returned to the G.U.N base, while Fiona had been placed under Nicole's watchful eye.

However, Fiona's dropping of the jar earlier had not left it undamaged. A crack in it started to glow from within, as a small, wispy flame forced its way out. It twisted, then floated away, heading for the palace.


	4. Chapter 4: Caught up in a Dream

Chapter 4: Caught up in a dream

It had been two weeks since Nic had brought Fiona back to Knothole, and the vixen was currently under the watchful eye of Nicole, and, if Nicole wasn't around, she was kept under house arrest. She'd passed the time by continuing her medical studies, and had received regular visits from Nic, Sally, and, naturally, Tails.

Currently, she was pouring over another textbook, while the Freedom Fighters were on a mission. Soon, however, Nicole materialised in the room.

"You really need to start knocking." Fiona said sarcastically.  
"Sorry. Apparently, I'm supposed to just barge in to make sure you aren't hiding anything. I don't see the point, in all honesty. I can sense your vitals, and I can tell if you are, but appearances have to be kept up."  
"Yeah." The vixen shrugged. "So I take it the mission's over?"  
"Yes."  
"What was this one?"  
"Well, come to the lab, and I will show you."  
"Okay."

Fiona closed the book, and pulled on her boots. She'd gone back to her old style since returning to her old friends, since she'd always felt more comfortable, and honestly, not having to dress up in less-then-modest clothing to please Scourge was a release. People still seemed to be avoiding her, but she didn't blame them for it.

The journey to the lab was thankfully uneventful, so she decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, aside from the mysterious objective, how did the mission go?"  
"It was fairly easy. There was a token resistance from Eggman, but he's fallen pretty far since the incident with Mecha Sally."  
"Good."  
"There was... one thing, though..."  
"What?"  
"Sally had a... dizzy spell, during the mission. She's been complaining about headaches and tiredness lately. She's probably just overworking herself, as usual, but I'm still worried. The others are too, and with Quack out of town..."  
"Hey, why don't I take a look at her after we're done at the lab?"  
"That would be much appreciated."

Soon after, they arrived, stepping through the sliding door into the sterile, immaculate building. The two stood in the lift, and made their way up to the top floor, heading out into the expansive main laboratory. The semi-dismantled Roboticizer stood in the corner, and the other Freedom Fighters were clustered around a table on the other side of the room. Something Mobian-sized was on it, covered by a sheet.

"Whoa, have you got a body under there?"  
"Something like that." Nicole smiled.  
"Good you two made it." Sally said. Fiona couldn't help but notice the bags under the squirrel's eyes, and her slightly glazed eyes, but decided to leave her concerns for the impromptu checkup later. "No more incidents?"  
"Thankfully none."  
"Good to hear, Fiona." Tails broke in.  
"Th-thanks..." Fiona replied, turning away, just in case she was blushing. It wasn't just that Tails had become rather handsome, in her mind. It was that, despite the way she had treated him, he was still being genuinely kind, and looking out for her. Even before things had fallen apart between her and Scourge, she wasn't proud of what she'd done, but now she was feeling more guilty than ever. "So, er, what did you find?"

Nicole grinned, and pulled the sheet away, revealing a gold-coloured robot, with bronze accents. Its proportions were Mobian. It had three circles on its chestplate, and a jetpack on its back. It had a three-pronged crest on its forehead, and a third, closed optic sensor at the base of that.

"So, er, what did you find?" Fiona repeated, causing Nicole's shoulders to sag slightly.  
"It's an ancient robot, called a Gizoid. They're supposedly able to copy any fighting ability they see, even to the point of somehow producing replicas of weapons. We had to keep it out of Eggman's hands, and, well, I've always wanted to study one of these."  
"However, they're supposed to be sentient." Tails added. "Which makes things a whole lot more interesting."  
"Wow, cool." Fiona. "But do you really want to turn it on? It's probably dangerous."  
"If I can form a link with it, or Sonic can, or someone else, and then it will be loyal to them." Nicole explained. "Then it'll be perfectly safe."  
"Right."

* * *

Later, Fiona returned home, followed by Sonic, Sally, and Nicole. The couple had come along on Nicole's suggestion. They sat down on the couches, with Fiona taking a few of her books and leafing through them.

"So, Nicole told me that you've been having dizzy spells, headaches, and tiredness." Fiona said. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"  
"Yes, I've been going to sleep before Sonic lately."  
"Hm..."  
"But... I have been getting a fever... and... seeing that robot reminded me of something..."  
"Oh?"  
"I had... I had a dream last night. I can barely remember it, but there was this figure, and... they had a third eye in the middle of their forehead."  
"You think it was the Gizoid?" Sonic asked.  
"I don't know... but the eyes were black, with green irises, and I... I couldn't look away."  
"Hmm... well, the Gizoid has blue optics, so it's probably not that." Fiona said. "Besides, you didn't even know about it until this morning. How long have you been having these symptoms?"  
"About two weeks now, and... and... I... I'm sorry, I need to go to the bathroom for a second." The squirrel said, standing up, and walking out of the room.

She stumbled, dazed, into the bathroom, and locked the door behind her, before resting her back against it. She touched the back of her hand to her forehead, feeling the intense heat radiating through her.

'I'm burning up...' She thought. '... and my head... it's killing me...'

She forced herself upright, and stepped over to the sink, running the tap and filling up the plastic tumbler, similar to the one she and Sonic used during their morning ablutions.

"Hey, Sal, you okay in there?" The blue hedgehog's voice echoed from the other side of the door, wracked with worry.  
"I have a fever, and a headache, but don't worry, it's probably nothing serious. I'll take some aspirin, and be out shortly." She replied, turning back to face her reflection. This time, however, something was amiss with her reflection.

In the middle of her forehead, where the hot sensation was at its worst, there was a glowing green gemstone, almost ovular in shape. She raised her hand to her face again, but felt nothing. Screwing up her eyes, and rubbing them, Sally looked back at her reflection, only to see the stone gone.

"What the..." Sally muttered. "Must've been seeing things..."

She knocked back the water, and then refilled the glass, before taking two pills from the cupboard, the door of which held the mirror, and swallowing them. Then she took another drink, and sighed, closing the cupboard door, only to come face to face with another twisted reflection.

The figure in the mirror still had the same body as her, and was mimicking her pose, but she was grinning, the stone was in the middle of her forehead again, and her eyes were completely black, with green irises.

"Hello, Princess." She said, a forked tongue lashing out of her mouth briefly.  
"Wh-who are you?" Sally gasped. "What are you?"  
"My name... you will know soon enough. As for what I am... I am Mobius' reckoning, and I am here because I have chosen you to be my vessel."  
"Reckoning?" Sally parroted. "That can't be anything good."  
"Au contraire, my dear royal partner. Mobius has become chaotic, tortured, plagued. The planet is sick, Princess, and I need your help to restore it. To cleanse it."

"You sound like Finitevus. Find someone else to be your vessel." Sally spat.  
"Oh, that mad doctor is part of the problem. He thinks too small. I do intend to purge the world, yes, but I also intend to restore it to the way it should be. No wars, no strife. Just eternal, blissful peace." The reflection said. "Does that not appeal to you?"  
"It does sound pretty good, but how do I know that I can trust you? Because right now, I don't. You sound crazy, and the ends don't justify the means. You sound like you're going to kill everything."

"An excellent question, my dear vessel. In truth, you don't know... but I can show you. The is a slight catch, though."  
"And what's that?"  
"You need to come into my realm to see it." The reflection moved her hand, and pressed it against the other side of the glass. "Put your hand on mine, and I shall show you the truth."

Sally looked around herself, and considered reaching out to the hand, then scolded herself internally. There was no way this could be real, was there? She was somehow negotiating with a hallucination. Still, maybe following 'her' request would let her wake up faster...

Sally sighed, and pressed her hand against her relfection's. Immediately, the surface of the mirror rippled, and Sally gasped as she saw her mirrored self's fingers pushed through it and wrapped around her hand. Then she gave a tug, and Sally screamed as she was pulled straight through the mirror.

* * *

When she came to, she was seated on a rooftop in Robotropolis, the old Robotropolis at that, but as alive as it ever could have been. Her mirror counterpart was standing near the edge. Rubbing her head and fighting disorientation, Sally approached her.

"What's going on?"  
"I am showing you the truth about Mobius. It is ruled by fear and oppression..." Now they were on another rooftop, overlooking the city as it was ten years prior. "... money, classes, and decadence..." Now they were in Albion. "... segregation and xenophobia..." And then overlooking the shrine of the Master Emerald in the Hidden Palace "... and heresy and sacrilege!"

"I... never saw it that way..." Sally admitted, as her doppelganger laid an arm around her shoulders.  
"Then let this be an eye-opener for you, Princess." The reflection said softly, gently, turning Sally's head to face her. The gem in her forehead looked almost... eye-like, and it was positively radiant in the dark, a pulsing, inviting green light, that was beginning to reflect in the young squirrel's field of vision. "Tell me, Sally... do you see the light now?"  
"I... I do..."  
"And what must be done to Mobius, in order to rectify this torrid state of affairs?"  
"It... must be... purified..."

The figure grinned, releasing Sally, and stepping back.

"Good girl... I see I made the right choice when I picked you to be my vessel. Truly, you are worthy of looking upon my true form, the form of your new liege, your true goddess... Iblis."

The mirror-Sally's tail immediately grew at an incredible rate, taking on the appearance of orange-red scales. It grew thicker and longer, and rested on the ground, lifting her body up off of it. Her legs lost a lot of mass, until they matched her arms, then snapped forwards. Her boots burned away, revealing a second pair of hands, and her new arms pulled up her torso, stopping at what was once her armpits. The jewel sunk into her head, forming an eye identical to her other two, as a fiery aura surrounded her. When it faded, her fur was gone, replaced my more scales, and a large hood stretched from her head to her upper back.

Sally fell to her knees before the majestic, but twisted form of Iblis, as the goddess slithered over to her, resting two of her hands on Sally's shoulders, and pulled her to her feet, as her tail began to coil around the girl.

"Do you know what you must do now, Vessel?"  
"Yes, Almighty Iblis. I will gladly offer my body up to you, so that you may use it to begin the great cleansing of Mobius' sins..." Sally murmured, her eyes now glowing green.  
"Perfect... now, your friends may feel alienated by my actions while I am in control of your body, but do not fear... they shall thank you and praise you a thousandfold once the world is purged of its impurities... They shall adore you for doing your holiest of duties..."  
"Yes, Almighty Iblis..." Sally smiled as Iblis finished coiling her, up to her shoulders.

"Good vessel. Now... open wide." Iblis commanded, holding Sally's helpless form closer to her own. Sally obeyed, and Iblis' forked tongue extended, plunging down Sally's throat. Her eyes rolled back into her head, as her eyes began to turn black, and a green glow started to emanate from her forehead.

* * *

Back within the bathroom, Sally's body was flung back from the mirror, and she fell against the wall, rubbing her head. She stood upright, and smiled her her reflection, with the gem in her forehead, and the green eyes with black sclerae. She looked down at her hand, and snapped her fingers, causing a small fireball to appear in her palm. It felt warm, but it didn't burn her skin or fur, much to her delight. 'Sally' extinguished the fire, and opened the window, climbing out, and crawling up onto the roof, somehow without any real handholds. She looked down at the disgusting, decadent city below her and spat on the surface next to her.

"Prepare yourselves, Mobius..." She hissed. "Iblis is home."

* * *

**Yes, Iblis is a girl. This is canon in all of my stories. Also, if you get the reference in the title, congratulations, your childhood was awesome.**


	5. Chapter 5: Discovery

Chapter 5: Discovery

Back in Fiona's living room, Sonic was becoming more worried. He zipped over to the bathroom door, and knocked on it.

"Sal? Sal, are you okay? Sally?" He called, only to receive no response. "Sally!"  
"Sonic? What are you doing?" Fiona asked, walking out into the corridor with him.  
"Sal's not responding, I think she might be hurt, or out cold, or something!"  
"Oh, right. Well, kick the door in!"  
"Are you sure?"  
"Making sure Sally's okay or preserving a door? Really?"  
"Right, okay." Sonic nodded. "Sal, if you can hear me, get away from the door!"

Sonic slammed his foot into the door, then did it again, knocking it open. It swung open, revealing the room to be empty.

"Sally?"  
"Where is she?" Fiona asked rhetorically. "Wait, the window's open... is she out on the ledge, or the roof, or something?"  
"I'll go check. You stay here."

Sonic climbed onto the windowledge, and looked up, seeing Sally's legs dangling over the side. He jumped up, and landed next to her.

"Sal?"  
"Yes Sonic?" She replied. The squirrel was seated, staring out over the city. She seemed to have an expression of mild disgust on her face, and her eyes had a slight greenish tinge.  
"What are you doing up here?"  
"I felt like getting some fresh air."  
"Right. You gonna be okay?"  
"I will." Sally smiled at him, before turning back to face the city again, standing up. "Look at it, Sonic."  
"At what?"  
"The city."  
"What about it?"  
"It's corrupt, Sonic."  
"Corrupt?"  
"Yes. It's being eaten alive from within, by idiots willing to do anything for a paycheck, and the people are slowly but surely submitting to decadence. It's vile, and it has to be stopped. It has to be purified."  
"Sally... you're kinda scaring me." Sonic said, backing away from her slightly. She turned to face him, smiling like she always did when she was in a playful mood, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her head on his chest.

"I don't mean too, my love." She sighed, as Sonic returned the gesture. "Don't worry, though... everything will become clear in a moment."

Sonic gave Sally a look, but she ignored it, and kissed him. Moving one of her hands, she conjured a small flame, and pressed it against Sonic's heart. The hedgehog's eyes had been closed, enjoying his make-out with his girlfriend, but they opened, wide, when he felt the scorching in his chest.

"Sal, what are you-?" He gasped, only for Sally to hush him, pressing her finger against his lips. She opened her eyes, and the hedgehog recoiled, when he saw the green irises and black sclerae. Her fringe had parted, revealing the glowing, eyelike, jade stone embedded in her forehead.  
"You will see the light, like I have."

Sonic twisted, pulling himself away from her grasp, and rubbed his mildly-burnt pectoral. He glared at her, as she walked towards him, smiling seductively.

"Who are you?!"  
"Are you feeling alright, Sonic? It's me, Sally."  
"No, Sal's eyes are blue, and... normal! She doesn't have a stone in the middle of her face, and she doesn't have powers! And she certainly wouldn't describe the city the way she did! What are you? An impostor? Or some sick freak taking Sal's body for a joyride?"

"Well, aren't you a curious one? You needn't worry about Sally, Sonic. She is perfectly fine. She offered me the use of her body, to complete my mission, like a good little vessel, and she will be returned to you when the two of us are done with our duty."  
"What are you!?"  
"I suppose deserve to know who it is that Sally is working with. My name is Iblis, and I am going to purge this world of all that is driving it into the pits. With Sally's assistance, it will be done all the easier. But I can see that you aren't as smart as her, so I'd better be on my way. You'll only hinder me, and I can't afford that."

Iblis' vile green eyes faded back to Sally's normal blue, and she grinned wildly.

"Sal, come on, you have to fight her off, before-"  
"No, Sonic..." Sally replied, as a blazing aura surrounded her body. "I must do my duty for Almighty Iblis. Sit tight, my darling. My work will be done in time."  
"Sal!"

Sonic ran towards her, but Sally floated up into the air, looking down at him.

"I hope you can understand my reasoning. I'm going to make Mobius a better place, in Her name. Then we will be together, forever."  
"Sally, please-" Sonic called, only to be cut off once more, as the squirrel's body vanished in a tremendous burst of flames. "- don't..."

The hedgehog fell to his knees, and slammed his fist into the roof, ignoring the pain.

_'Sal... I'm so sorry... I failed you again...'_

* * *

Far away, Sally reappeared, hovering above the ocean. In front of her was the last bastion of the Eggman Empire, the Death Egg. As she hovered, the gem pulsed brightly. Sally began to feel Iblis' warm, thick tail coiling her once more, two hands on her shoulders, and another two cradling her head.

"Why did you want me to bring us here, Almighty Iblis?"  
"Do you remember what the denizens of that satellite did to you, my dear?" The serpent replied, and, like with the tail and the hands, Sally felt her new ally's tongue tickling her ear.  
"Yes."  
"They turned you into a mindless drone, cut you open with a torch, and pulled you apart. They filled your cavities with weapons, and welded you shut, with new armour to hide the marks."  
"I remember..."  
"And what did you do to them in return?"  
"I used the same weapons Eggman intended to use to further his empire to crush it."  
"But what did you do to the man himself?"  
"Nothing..."

"That is why we are here, Sally. We are here to rectify your mistake. You should have killed him."  
"I should?"  
" You should have made an example of him."  
"I should..."  
"You should have given him what he deserved."  
"Yes, you are right, Almighty Iblis, as always." Sally nodded, green and black rings spiralling through her eyes.  
"Why didn't you kill him?"  
"Out of some warped sense of self-righteousness... Out of some effort to keep the moral high ground over him."  
"And what do you think of that reason now?"  
"It's foolish." She spat, clenching her fists, flames pouring around her fingers. "The only righteousness that I need now is yours, Almighty Iblis. I only need to carry out your plans. To eradicate the flaws. To cleanse Mobius."  
"Good girl... yes, you are a good girl. A good girl who obeys her goddess."  
"Thank you, Almighty Iblis."  
"Now, you may start the cleansing, by removing Doctor Robotnik and his Dark Egg Legion."  
"By your command, Almighty Iblis."

Sally vanished in another wave of heat and flame, reappearing in front the Death Egg's fuel tanks. She pressed her hands against one of them, and channelled her newfound fire powers into it. A few seconds later, the tank exploded, as did the fuel lines, and the other tanks, setting off a chain reaction of blasts, heading for the engines. The whole room was going up in flames. Sally warped herself away again, and materialized where she had floated before.

"Well done, my dear." Iblis hissed, as the feeling of her tail, hands, and tongue returned. "You have done well indeed."  
"Thank you, Almighty Iblis." Sally swelled with pride, as she watched the battle station explode violently, taking everyone on board with it.  
"And how does it feel to have powers now?"  
"It feels amazing..."  
"I knew you would like it. I gave them to you so that we can easily accomplish our mission."  
"And what is our mission, if I may ask, Almighty Iblis?"  
"We are going to recover my body, so that I can do my work. You will be kept safe and warm within my embrace, while I finish the purification of this world. Then, you will be released to enjoy your life, in a utopia under the eternal sun. Essentially, you are helping me to help you."  
"It sounds wonderful, Almighty Iblis."  
"Good to hear. Now, your friends will be trying to separate us. They don't understand the righteousness of our quest. We can't have that now, can we? We need a distraction. You mentioned Doctor Finitevus? He will be a major assistance to us."  
"I thought you said that he thought too small..."  
"Well, we'll just have to broaden his horizons, then, won't we?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in Mobotropolis, the other Freedom Fighters had arrived at Fiona's home, upon hearing the distressing news about Sally.

"It... it must've been that thing in her nightmare!" Sonic growled.  
"What 'thang', Sugah-Hog?" Bunnie asked.  
"She said that she had a nightmare, where she saw a figure with three green eyes. Well, that 'Iblis' thing had green eyes while it was controlling her, and she had a green gemstone that looked like an eye in her forehead. It must've been Iblis that she saw..."  
"We can find her, right?" Rotor spoke up.  
"I have her life-signal." Nicole replied. "But now that she can seemingly fly and teleport, tracking her will be hard."  
"I can't believe that we lost her again, so soon after we turned her back into an organic..." Tails said sadly.

They continued to sit there, in relative silence, while each one tried to come up with a way to help their possessed leader.

"Wait a sec." Fiona said. "What did you guys do with the Goddess' Soul?"  
"We put it straight into storage, mademoiselle." Antoine replied. "Why do you ask?"  
"Because Iblis is the name of the mythical Goddess of Fire, and that thing was warm to the touch, it had fire engraved on it, and the gems on it were green, and Sally only started having trouble after I delivered it to you."  
"You think that whatever is controlling Sally is the real Iblis, and she came here in that jar?" Amy asked.  
"Yeah."  
"One moment please." Nicole spoke up, before fading out, reappearing in the vault. She surrounded the urn with a shield bubble, and carefully used her nanites to remove the lid, before looking inside. She paled when she saw that the urn was completely empty, and noticed the crack in its side.

She returned to Fiona's house in a flash of pixels.

"I think Fiona's right." She announced. "The urn is empty, and there's a crack in it."  
"Iblis must've gotten out through there... But it couldn't have been there when we retrieved it from the temple, or, provided that Iblis requires a female host, it would be me, Nic, or Rouge flying, teleporting, and trying to set our loved ones on fire." Fiona said.  
"I guess it was damaged after that point..." Amy said. "Oh gods, you dropped it when I tried to attack you! It must have been broken then! It's... it's my fault!"  
"No, it isn't." Tails cut in. "None of us had any idea that Iblis was in that thing, nor did we know that Iblis could possess people's bodies, and even then, Sally managed to hide this for a week, and only remembered Iblis' appearance in her dream, just before she was taken over. It's not your fault."

"So... now what?" Sonic asked. "How do we free her from Iblis?"  
"We'd have to, in Iblis' own terms, 'purify her', and force it from her body with something else. What it is, however, I don't know." Nicole replied.  
"Well, for now, we need all the help we can get. Fi, I want you to call Nic and the others. Nicole, we need to turn on that robot."

* * *

**I would have given Eggman some lines, but I couldn't justify having Iblis actually interact with him.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Gathering

Chapter 6: The Gathering

In Knothole's lab, a Warp Ring flashed open, and the whole Freedom Fighter team filed through, followed by Fiona, who closed the ring, and pocketed it.

"Thanks for giving that back, Nicole." She said. "Now, let's get the Gizoid up and running."  
"Right. I've already been in contact with him, while he's been in standby, to make sure he won't go berserk when I wake him. He can't remember his name, but I decided to call him "Emerl." He's running on auxiliary at the moment, but if I put his core back in, he should come online immediately."

Nicole floated over to the table on which the Gizoid lay, and pressed her hand against his chestplate. It glowed briefly, and she quickly retracted it as the whole plate lifted up, revealing the Spark Chamber, which was closed off by another two plates, which parted, opening out to reveal two gaps, one above the other. She moved away from it, and picked up a glass cylinder with a blinding green light within it, holding it at arm's length.

"Whoa!" Amy gasped. "What is that?"  
"A Chaos Drive." Tails replied. "I use them to power most of my tech, fueled from my own reserves, but I've never seen one that bright..."  
"I tested this one, and, unlike the ones we use, which need a recharge every now and then, this one's power seems to be limitless, although it can only draw on so much at a time." Rotor explained. "It's likely that there's a Chaos artefact of some kind in there, but no-one's going to volunteer to open it up and find out if they know what's good for them."

While they had been having this discussion, Nicole had once more crossed the room, and positioned the drive directly over the lower hole. She pushed it in slowly, carefully, making sure it lined up properly, and listened for the muted click of it locking into place. As soon as it sounded, the body jerked, as the hole above it was filled with pulsing, cyan light. His hands clenched into fists, as his chestplate closed up, the three circles on it lighting up in the same blue glow, the same with the ones on his shoulder plate. His optics sensors opened, matching the tint, as he stood up, a huge aura flaring up around him.

Nicole floated back, watching carefully as the aura faded, and the robot's shoulders sagged, along with his arms. He looked up, carefully looking around his surroundings, before dusting himself off and allowing the white plate on the bottom of his face to split apart, revealing a pair of technorganic-looking lips, covered by a malleable metal alloy.

"Whoa, now that was all kinds of trippy." He said. His voice was youthful, calm, expressive. The third optic at the base of his crest opened, and he looked over all of the assembled Freedom Fighters. "Nicole? Which one of you is Nicole?"

"I am."The lynx stepped forward, smiling.  
"Er, wow, you, um, look... different to, er, what I imagined." He said. "A-and by that I mean Mobian."  
"Thank you. Truth be told, I'm actually an AI. There's some Mobian in me, but that's a story best saved for another time."  
"Oh right, okay. So... why am I awake?"  
"We have a dire situation, and we'd like your help."  
"I see. Well, I'm sure I can be of assistance with something."  
"Our friend, and leader, Sally Acorn, has lost control of her body to a malevolent entity."  
_'I know the feeling...'_  
"However, it's not as simple as it sounds. The entity in question is Iblis, the Goddess of Fire, and she's warped Sally's mind and twisted her to her own ideals. We have to get her back and, well, essentially exorcise her. We'd like your help. While I would have preferred to complete my studies and get the all-clear from the council before activating you, these are desperate times."  
"Sure, you can count on me." The Gizoid said, hopping off the table. "Well, provided that I can get some new moves."  
"Certainly. Sonic, Tails, demonstrate. Fiona, go and call Nic." 

* * *

Meanwhile, on Angel Island, in a secret, hidden lair, a white-furred echidna was seated in an armchair, scowling, as he waited for news from the Destructix to return with the Goddess' Soul. He didn't expect it to be that hard to retrieve, yet here he was, with no news. Sighing, he stood up, and headed for the door.

"If you want something done right, do it yourself." Finitevus sighed.  
"I quite agree, Doctor."

He froze, reaching out through the ether to try and sense who it was that had somehow invaded his base without him noticing, with no fanfare, in the past minute, no less. Immediately, he smelt and tasted the acrid smell of smoke, and felt a blazing warmth... exactly the feeling he had been expecting to get from the Soul. Turning around, he realised that his chair was now occupied by Sally, who had lit a tiny flame on her fingertip.

"The Acorn Princess?" He mused, flicking a Warp Ring into his hand, ready for a fight. "If I had known I was receiving such illustrious company, I would have prepared. What is your business with me?"  
"I want to talk to you about your plan." Sally replied, standing up, as her eyes immediately changed, turning into the black-sclerad eyes of of Iblis. "And my name is Iblis."

Finitevus relaxed, stowing the ring, and approaching her.

"Iblis? As in, The Cleanser, Iblis?"  
"The very same."  
"And you are inhabiting the body of a Freedom Fighter... I like the way you do things."  
"Thank you."  
"So, what is it that you intend to ask me?"  
"Well, let's say that you succeed. Mobius is razed to the ground by Chaos fire. What do you do then?"  
"Pardon?"  
"You've won. You've purged Mobius. So now you have nothing left to live for. Your plan may succeed, but you will have rendered your existence meaningless. You will have no purpose. But I can give you a purpose. Our objectives line up- both of us want to cleanse this decadent world, but that's where your plan stops. Mine continues. I will rebuild it to be perfect, and you can assist me with that. With both halves, actually."  
"How so?"  
"As you rightly noted, I am currently inhabiting the body of Princess Sally. Naturally, the Freedom Fighters will want to get her back. I need to keep them occupied, while my plan continues. This is where you come in. You will retrieve the Destructix, what is left of them, that is, from the G.U.N base, thus providing the Freedom Fighters with something else to take care of."  
"I see, so that's what happened to them. And what do you mean "what's left of them?""  
"Fiona and Lightning both turned against them. Fiona is with the Freedom Fighters again, and Lightning is with G.U.N. Now, are you in?"  
"You have a deal."

Iblis raised her borrowed hand, and pressed her fingertip against the yellow crystal embedded in Finitevus' forehead. Immediately, they were engulfed in flames, and the mad echidna groaned with surprise and pain. After a few seconds, the fire faded, revealing that both the crystal and Finitevus' irises were now green, like hers.

"Ah... thank you." He smirked, as Iblis stepped back, smiling. "I shall go and retrieve the Destructix."  
"Good. I'm going to require the use of your computer."  
"Very well."

* * *

Within the lower chambers of the G.U.N. headquarters, multiple prisoners reclined in cells. Grouped together in one of them were the four remaining Destructix. They'd been sitting there for a while, when suddenly two black Chaos Spears struck the guards standing outside of their cell, impaling them. Each spear had travelled from opposing ends of the cell block, and the cause became apparent, as Finitevus stepped through a Warp Ring, into the cell.

"Doc!" Scourge grinned. "Never thought I'd see you here."  
"What's up with your eyes?" Predator asked.  
"Nothing worth worrying about. I have made a new ally, and she has use for you. Thus, I'm going to bring you to her, so that her plan may move forward."  
"Why are you following someone else's plan?" Simian asked.  
"Yeah, that ain't your style."  
"Her objectives match up with mine. We have the same goal."

Finitevus led the mercenaries through the Warp Ring, and returned to his lair. Iblis, or Sally, he wasn't sure presently, was operating the computer mounted on the opposite wall, her back to the five.

"This is your new employer."  
"Whoa, hey! Ain't that Blue's girl? Ha, ain't that ironic, right after getting that stupid fox back, he loses her."  
"I'm surprised you actually know what irony is, Scourge." Sally replied, not turning around.  
"Normally, that would make me mad. But babe, for you, I can forget it." Scourge grinned, rushing over to the squirrel, and attempting to cop a feel. "Good to see that you woke up and joined the winning team, Sally. You're gonna love this."

"Your hand is on my chest." She stated, her voice flat, and her eyes closed with exasperation.  
"Yup."  
"Your hand is on my chest." She repeated.  
"Uh-huh."  
"Your _hand_ is on my _chest._"  
"Failing to see how this is a problem."

The possessed squirrel sighed, then raised her hand, and promptly backhanded Scourge, sending him sailing into a wall. He collided with a heavy thud, and the sickening crunch of a broken rib. She had turned to face him now, her eyes open, revealing the green glow on a black background, veins standing out a little in her arms and forehead. Fire ignited around her hands as she glowered at him.

**"There is only one that may do that to me, and another to my host. You are neither."** Iblis snarled, raising her hand and unleashing a huge torrent of flames. Scourge screamed with a mixture of pain and terror, only to be muted as the oxygen in his lungs exploded, and his flesh was seared away, leaving nothing but a charred skeleton, which crumbled to dust shortly afterwards.

"Holy crap." Predator recoiled. Simian looked more than a little disturbed too, while Frog was simply giggling.  
"Let that be a lesson to you. Scourge was a prime example of the very thing we are fighting to eradicate. I will not tolerate such foul-mindedness from any of you, am I clear?"  
"As crystal."  
"Good. Now, work with me, and your salvation will be ensured. My objective is simple, but I want to keep it secret, so for now, all I need from you three is this: Go to Mobotropolis, and cause the Freedom Fighters a little trouble. Keep them off my back, and maybe kill a few if you can, but not too many. That will be all."

* * *

In the city itself, Nicole had brought the Freedom Fighters, as well as the recently arrived Team Dark, to the Council Chamber, where the rulers of the Republic waited for them.

"What seems to be the concern, Nicole?" Charles asked.  
"And where is my sister?" Elias asked.

"Bear with me, because this is pretty huge." The artificial lynx replied. "Now, as you should know, two weeks ago, Fiona Fox returned to us, wholly repentant. However, she brought with her an ancient artefact called the Goddess' Soul. Fiona was attacked in a minor altercation upon arrival, since it wasn't certain as to who she was working for, and during this, dropped the Soul. At first, we thought nothing of it, but... Sally started getting fevers, and headaches, as well as nightmares about a three-eyed figure. It seems that... the Soul itself escaped from the artefact, and found its way into her. What's worse is that the Goddess in question is Iblis, and she seems to plan on using Sally as a vessel while she carries out her plan to raze Mobius to the ground."

"Dear gods above..." Elias gasped, as the others looked around, in various states of shock, concern, and confusion.  
"And how do you know that this wasn't simply her cracking under pressure and going insane?" Hamlin asked.  
"Because Sal couldn't fly, teleport, or create fire!" Sonic angrily cut in. "And her eyes aren't green, nor does she normally have a green stone in her forehead!"  
"Hence why I have called together all of the Freedom Fighters, as well as Team Dark of G.U.N. We are going to capture Iblis, neutralise her, and force her out of Sally's body and back into the urn."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Rosemary asked.  
"In all honesty, I have no plan." Nicole admitted. "But even then, we can't leave her flying around Mobius and burning things while she's under Iblis' spell. We need to capture her, so we'll cross the exorcism bridge when we come to it."  
"Fair enough."  
"There is one more thing I want to bring to your attention, though."

"And what is that?"  
"During our last mission, we found an ancient, sentient weapon called the Gizoid. I reconditioned him, and brought him back online. Right now, he's probably our best hope of catching Sally, simply because he has the ability to mimic any move or attack he sees or understands. I know this is rash, and without permission, but we need all the help we can get, and there was no time to debate."  
"Where is this "Gizoid?"" Dylan asked. Nicole pressed two fingers to the side of her head, and her avatar flickered for a moment.  
"He's on his way."

A few moments later, a bright flash tore through the room, as Emerl appeared via Chaos Control. He lowered himself to the ground, killing his engines, and saluted the council.

"Emerl the Gizoid, reporting for duty."  
"Er, Emerl? The Freedom Fighters aren't that sort of organization."  
"Oh, right. Sorry Nicole."  
"It's nothing to be upset over."  
"Really?" Hamlin sighed. "This is your so-called "Best chance at rescuing the Princess?""  
"Hey, I might not look like much... or act it, but I'm more than strong enough, and getting stronger!" He replied. "And if I'm not strong enough, my scanning ability will be able to work out how much power we need to out-do her. I'm ready and willing to lay down my life to help save her."

"Well... I suppose we can give him a shot..." Chuck said. "But Nicole, warn us when you find something like him next time."  
"Yes sir, and sor- hang on..."  
"What is it?" Emerl asked.  
"Something just teleported into the city. Warp Ring again. They're giving off a similar reading to Iblis-as-Sally... but it isn't her."

"Looks like Iblis is handing out powers now..." Sonic growled. "Come on, let's go get them."  
"Right behind you!" Emerl grinned, his mouthplate locking shut, and his engines firing.


End file.
